a garden party bridal shower with blueberries, herbs + books

this bridal shower was held in honor of the gorgeous bride-to-be, ashley!! although her wedding was in may, we still wanted to blog the photos from her garden party inspired affair...it took place in the backyard of a private home and was hosted by leila and lauren...they wanted to take some of ashley's favorite things (herbs, vintage books, desserts) and incorporate them in a way that was sweet and special...

style file: garden party, organic, subtle rustic feel

colors: green, beige, chocolate, hints of blue

elements: herbs, blueberries, wood, burlap, wrought iron, distressed terracotta, wicker, vintage books, twine, rustic copper

here is the stunning bride, ashley...

one of the desserts served was a chocolate pudding with crushed cookies and a mint sprig, made to look like little potted plants!

a cute little flower stand that leila and i crafted for her own "love shoot" last year!

guests sipped on lemonade as well as herb infused cucumber water...

i loved the wooden flatware leila chose! it added that laid-back, slightly rustic vibe...

we potted rosemary, sage and lavender in distressed terracotta and ceramic pots and footed urns...leila and jesi brought in a bunch of vintage books and stacked the herbs on top...

another dessert offered - blueberry pies!

ashley posing with some of her girlfriends, holding an adorable "love in bloom" burlap banner made by courtney from joyful, joyful...

one interactive thing leila and lauren had planned was a "plant your own love garden" station...we provided a variety of flowering plants and herbs and the guests got to pot their own to take home using soil, mini terracotta vessels and trowels...

the potted plants were accented with the cutest wooden stakes that read "love in bloom" or "5.7.11" (which was ashley's wedding date)...

it was so fun to work alongside such awesome people!

photography: dave richards photography

event production and design: be inspired pr (leila and lauren)

co-designer: jesi haack design

floral design: JL DESIGNS

props: oc prop girl

hair and makeup: kacee geoffrey

papergoods: mintwich design

"love in bloom" banner: joyful, joyful

linens: la tavola

thank you to inspired by this for featuring ashley's shower! to see the full write up and some behind the scenes planning ideas, click here...

also, the shower can be seen in the latest issue of inside weddings magazine, on stands now - thanks leila and marilyn for the feature!!

our european babymoon - may 2011

well since i am 3 days away from my due date (halloween!!) i figured this was a good time to finally blog the photos we took on our european babymoon back at the beginning of may...i was 4 months along in my pregnancy at the time so it was a perfect time to travel! the morning sickness had mostly subsided and i had enough energy again to do a lot of walking...

as brian and i near the end of our days as a twosome it's so special to look back at these pictures and appreciate all the blessings we have...it's gonna be a while before we have the chance to travel internationally again...and some people never get the chance to travel for leisure at all...so we are extremely grateful for the 2 weeks we got to spend exploring spain and italy, eating great food, seeing historic sites and just soaking up each other's company and love...

we definitely have to thank katie from ever after honeymoons for helping to make this trip a reality...i left so many things until the last minute and she came in and did her fairy godmother magic to get decisions made...i can't say enough good things about her services!!

we took an old 80's film camera with us and trust me, we are no professionals but i think we did a decent job considering we know nothing about photography! we just love the way film looks so we thought we would give it a try...

we started our trip in barcelona, spain...being an architect, it was important to brian to see all of gaudi's work...so here we are at parc guell, casa batllo and of course, sagrada familia...

as if the outside of the sagrada familia is not crazy looking enough - the inside was INSANE!!! most european churches look pretty similar on the inside...but the interiors that gaudi dreamed up have no comparison...

next we traveled south to granada, probably my favorite city in spain...the moorish influence in that region is just so fascinating and romantic! the highlight was visiting the alhambra, which in my opinion, is the most gorgeous site in the country...

here we are just roaming the streets of granada...

our last stop in spain was sevilla...we toured the royal palace and ate delicious olives - but it was pretty hot there and by the time we left i was giddy with excitement for the italian food to come :)

although we stayed at an amazing villa in the tuscan countryside, we did a day trip into florence to climb to the top of the duomo, sample some gelato and walk across the ponte vecchio bridge...

we loved florence but the rest of tuscany was TO.DIE.FOR...we rented a car and drove the back roads to some of the most beautiful medieval towns like siena and san gimignano...

probably my favorite picture of bri from the whole trip...

we even had some time to get to pisa to see the leaning tower...i honestly could not believe how much that thing is leaning!! so crazy to see it in person...it kinda blew me away!

we finished our vacation in the stunning region of the amalfi coast...it was a long trip to get down there but worth every second! it was completely amazing in every way...

we stayed in the adorable town of positano and took a day trip over to the town of amalfi as well...

this was the view from our hotel suite - simply magical and like no where we have ever been!!

we will never forget the memories we made on this trip...and it was pretty surreal that our baby was there with us :)

and as for you, baby jowett - we can't wait for your official arrival and to someday take you on family vacations, watch you travel during your post college years and then take your own honeymoon and family vacations someday! we love you and are so excited to meet you!!